A case study of a university-industry STEM partnership in regional Queensland

This chapter looks at how the partnership between the Gladstone Marina campus of CQUniversity and Australia Pacific LNG developed, focusing on the elements that made this partnership successful. It details the three critical aspects of a productive partnership – building capacity, shared visions and sustainability – and provides examples of how these have developed over time through the STEM Central Project. The learnings from our project can assist educators and schools in developing successful and mutually beneficial partnerships with industry to promote STEM engagement and learning. Before unpacking these three aspects, the chapter presents relevant literature; the context in which the project took place, including background about the city of Gladstone; and an overview of the industry partner, Australia Pacifc LNG. The chapter then concludes by identifying how these three key success factors may assist teachers, schools, leaders, industry, education institutions and universities to make decisions about genuine partnerships and projects in STEM education.